Aycliffe-based Raisco, which works on projects up and down the country, saw turnover drop to £5.4m from £7.5m at the end of March after a lull in the construction industry. Managing Director Gary Raistrick says he wasn’t too concerned and is predicting a record year for Raisco He’s also expecting to land a further £1.2m in sales in May, pushing his annual turnover to Gary said: “There seemed to be a massive lull in the industry from November through to March, which saw our forecast sales reduce. It seemed to be booming until the orders dropped off towards the end of the year. Everyone seemed unusually quiet in December, January and February. “But I think there’s going to be an even greater boom later this year as we’ve had an influx of orders throughout March and April and I’m confident we’ll improve on our record of £7.5m by the end of our current year.”
Raisco was boosted by two orders from two new clients, including a 160-tonne residential apartment block in Whitecraigs near Glasgow, for McTaggart Construction, which is expected to be on site in June.
The Aycliffe firm has also won a project to fabricate and erect 450 tonnes of steel for a new Raisco has been awarded three other repeat business contracts, including a 40-tonne extension in Stanley for STP Construction and two other Lidl stores – one in Weston-super-Mare,
Gary says the rising cost of steel will have impact on profitability, but added: “It will still be a much stronger year for us. We’re already seeing a big increase in the cost of steel and the forecast is that it will continue to rise throughout the year.
“We are not massively concerned about the rise as this will also have to be taken into account nationally, which means competition should remain on a level playing field.”
Raisco was last year awarded a contract to build a new Lidl store in Crook – it’s third turnkey project for the retailer but first in the North East of England, after planning was approved by Durham County Council last September.
More than 130 tonnes of steel will be erected by Raisco and fabricated in-house at the firm’s 35,000 sq ft premises on Aycliffe Business Park, and the project is currently on site.
Since being formed eight years ago, Raisco has rapidly grown into one of the country’s leading construction and steel fabrication firms, diversifying from purely a structural steel company to having the ability to provide a full construction turnkey package.
It now works with clients up and down the country and has delivered a wide range of fabrication and secondary steelwork projects for many of the construction industry’s well-known main contractors.